It’s not always the “obvious” issues that trip is up- it’s the things we don’t even realize are a problem.
For instance: take the sinking of the Titanic (the movie, by the way, is “meh”. I know you may disagree. That’s ok). The problem wasn’t the iceberg they could see. It was the iceberg they could not see underneath the surface that sealed the fate of the “unsinkable” ship.
Similarly, in our journey to follow Jesus, it’s not the sin in our life that is obvious that creates the most problems. It’s the sin that we don’t even see that sinks us. And there are two areas in particular that we often fail to recognize as sin- and thus fail to submit to God in- that actually fuel the more obvious disobedience down the road.
What makes these tricky is we often don’t even think these things are a problem.
The first area is worry.
Did you know that worrying is actually a sin?
Jesus said this in Matthew 6:25 (NIV, emphasis added):
“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?”
“Do not worry” is a command- just like “Do not steal” or “Do not commit adultery” is a command. So when we worry, we are not submitting to God- and we are in sin.
Why is it that we fail to see worry as sin?
Sometimes we label it as “concern” to justify it. And there are certainly times when we should be concerned and act accordingly.
But “concern” becomes worry when it moves us away from trusting in God to trusting in ourselves- and that is where we start to step into more obviously disobedient patters.
We are worried we’ll never get a date…so we date someone we know we shouldn’t.
We worry that God won’t provide…so we overwork ourselves and neglect our families.
We worry that someone won’t like us…so we try to be someone we are not, and we begin to toss our faith to the side.
It all stems from worry- but what does worry stem from?
Simply put, worry is giving into fear that God is somehow not “God enough” to do what He says He would do. We fear God is not “God enough” to provide, to meet our greatest needs, to fulfill us, or to work out all things for His glory and our good. When we give into this thinking, we begin to think we need to take charge, and when we do, we actually end up creating bigger problems than we had to start with…
That person we ended up dating because we thought they would be awesome isn’t…and now it’s either a break-up and back to singleness or “living for the good days” and misery the rest of the time.
Our marriage is getting cold because we work such long hours.
We’ve tried fitting in, but now our greatest fear is losing the approval of other people…and we never pursue the dreams God has put in our heart.
We often don’t see worry as sin- but it is.
The antidote?
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.7And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” – Philippians 4:6-7 (NIV)
The second area would be isolation.
Here’s what I mean by isolation: instead of choosing to pursue relationships within the local church, you choose distance.
You do not get involved in a group.
No one is mentoring you.
When struggles arise, your first action is to withdraw.
That can be on an individual level- you don’t let others in, or- if married- on a couple level- you think all you need is each other.
Here’s what Scripture says about that in Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 (NIV):
Two are better than one,
because they have a good return for their labor:
If either of them falls down,
one can help the other up.
But pity anyone who falls
and has no one to help them up.
Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm.
But how can one keep warm alone?
Though one may be overpowered,
two can defend themselves.
A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.
Without relationships, we have no one to pick us up when we fall down. We have no one to comfort us when life gets difficult. And we have no one to help us fight the enemy when he attacks.
The pushback to this often goes something like this: “All I need is Jesus and my Bible.”
It sounds good…but there’s two counter points to that:
First: the early church didn’t have the Bible- but they had each other.
Sure, some of them had copies of Paul’s letters, and the Jews would read from the Old Testament in the Synagogues.
But you didn’t have a Torah in every home or a letter of Paul on your bedside table.
What did you have?
The local church!
That’s why the writer of Hebrews says this (Hebrews 10:23-25, NIV, emphasis added):
23 Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, 25 not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
The writer of Hebrews explicitly insisted the early church NOT give up meeting together. Why?
Because that is the way we encourage each other and hold fast to the faith. Not by being a lone-wolf, but by engaging in relationships with fellow believers.
Second: If all we need is Jesus and a Bible…then why did Jesus even give us the Church?
Keep in mind that Jesus died for the Church (Ephesians 5:25). Keep in mind that Jesus said He would build His Church (Matthew 16:18).
Clearly the Church is a priority for Jesus. Why?
Keep in mind that Jesus prayed that His disciples would be unified (John 17:21-23) and commanded them to love each other (John 15:12).
That can’t happen unless we gather together- unless we reject isolation and choose community.
To choose isolation- to refuse to let other believers into your life- is to reject Jesus’ plan (the Church) and His commands (to be unified with other believers and love one another).
That’s clearly wrong…and isolation creates another problem, which is this:
We become a very easy target for the enemy to destroy.
When there is no one around to tell us “What you are doing is not good”, we end up in an echo chamber where all our thoughts our awesome, all our opinions are right, and all our decisions are made on our own.
That’s just not healthy! I know I am so thankful that, at LifeSpring, we lead in plurality with Mark, David, and myself. I am so thankful I have guys that mentor me and help me identify the blindspots in my life. I am so thankful for a wife that lovingly points out when I’m going off the rails.
Without these people, I would have made colossal mistakes over the past few years! I am so thankful for community- I need it!
None of us are awesome enough to always get it right- and we need others to point out where we are wrong- which is why we often choose isolation:
We don’t like to be shown we are wrong- and all that is is pride- which leads us to God’s opposition (James 4:6).
It’s far better to humbly choose community than proudly choose isolation- THAT is how we hold fast to the faith and follow Jesus wherever He tells us to go.